Friday, 1st August 2008 - 10:20CET
UPDATED: Children 'still being sent to prison'
File picture - Fr Mark Montebello, founder of Mid-dlam Ghad-Dawl, speaking outside the prisons.
(Adds government reaction)
The NGO Mid-dlam ghad-Dawl complained today that its appeals for children not to be sent to the prisons have gone unheeded, and a 13-year-old boy is current being held there.
"It is clear that after the cases we had earlier this year, the authorities have not taken any measures so that children would not be put in prison, where they can meet prisoners who are much older than them", the NGO said.
"The prisons are not a place for children, and we appeal to the authorities to shoulder their responsibilities and ensure that the country has the facilities to cater for these cases. In the context of the absence of proper facilities, we also appeal to the courts not to continue to send children to the prisons, since this is doing them more harm than good."
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry in a reaction said the government was in the process of implementing a set of measures to address such isolated cases so that minors would be protected when they needed to be sent to detention.
RSS
Comments
Youth who commit crimes are treated differently than adults.
It has failed miserably! Youth crime is out of control, stealing, guns, drugs and murders.
If you do something wrong you pay the price. Teens included.
But this is not the way to go! What do we want - to reform these young people or to instil in them the sense of belonging to this group? One must not forget that juvenile offenders have already been emarginated by society (and if not, they will be now that they went to prison)and thus, helping them to feel part of a group will attract them and contribute to their negative behaviour. The wrong doing here, is that the authorities are leading these children to be part of the WRONG GROUP! What about building up a community-like environment like in the cases of drug abusers. The more they give their part in the community, the more they will be allowed to go back to society and help the community e.g. in local councils. Parallel with this help, the family surrounding the 'offender' will be also given help so that the vicious circle somewhere is broken!
If we continue handing jail sentences left, right and centre without honestly trying to give a helping hand, history will repeat itself!
contrary to the impression being given, there already exists a juvenile section at corradino, called Y.O.U.R.S. which, from what i've heard from several professionals who have worked there in one way or another, sees to the residents' needs to the letter.
rather than the fact that a 13-year-old has been convicted to serve a prison sentence, i find the issue that this individual, at such a tender age has, with full awareness that renders him culpable, broken the law so seriously as to be fitting of this sentence, more alarming. one cannot but ask, "what are the factors that led up to him/her doing this? where has society erred...?"
that said, it is important to point out that, while a youth section in prison has been setup for a quite some time now, up to this day, a drug rehabilitation centre proper (along the lines of San Blas etc.) for users under 16, has not, this being to the detriment to many adolescents and early teens who would benefit from such a facility.
Frans Buhagiar
Safi